-w  - 

'  n  •:- 


-----        3  r»CMj>*uCll'  ' i  u  L     -, 

THE     C  Y  C  L  E  S 

. 

By   SENECA    G.  LEWIS 
and   C  .   P.  M  c  D  o  .v  A  L  » 


Hit 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


THE      CYCLES 


THE  CYCLES 


THEME   BY 

SENECA  G.  LEWIS 

INTERPRETATIVE  VERSE  BT 

C.  P.  Me  DONALD 


THE  CORNHILL  COMPANY 

BOSTON 


Copyright,  1917,  by 
THK  CORNHILL  COMPANY 


rs 


THE      CYCLES 


FIRST  CYCLE 


ABANDON  OF  YOUTH 


"Today — live  for  it! — 
0  an  empty  thing 
This  Future  is  I" 


612972 

UBRARY 


THE      CYCLES 


my  Creed— my  Doctrine- 

if  you  will, 
Yet  I  must  nurture 

my  opinion  still: 
Futurity  demands 

no  thought  of  mine- 
It  has  no  mission 

that  I  should  fulfill. 


THE      CYCLES 


II 

T  F,  living  for  the  present, 

I  must  deign 
Feel  qualms  of  Conscience 

for  the  moment's  gain, 
Repenting  later 

and  entrammel  Life — 
Ah,  then,  for  me,  Life  shall 

have  dawned  in  vain! 


THE      CYCLES 


E 


III 

XISTENCE  is  equivocal. 

To  shed 
Salt-tanged  and  barren  tears 

for  what's  ahead 
Would  be  to  misconstrue 

what  all  the  Gods 
Of  Joy  and  Laughter 

have  interpreted. 


W" 


THE      CYCLES 


IV 

[ILE  broad  and  clear  my  vision  is- 

and  vast  — 
Though  some  new-gotten  prize 

should  be  my  last, 
For  me  the  Present 

is  where'er  I  stand 
And  watch  the  Future 

fuse  into  the  Past. 


THE       CYCLES 


r  |^HE  rose  that  sheds  its  blood 

in  Motherhood 
That  Beauty 

may  be  freely  understood, 
Is  plucked  and  dies, 

although  the  bud  lives  on, 
Nor  knows  the  World  is  naught 

but  just  and  good. 


THE      CYCLES 


VI 

fT^OMORROW  comes,  cloaked 
in  her  fairest  guise, 

New  Worlds  of  Gain,  to  conquer, 
in  her  eyes; 

We  meet,  and,  Lo 
ner  raiment  cast  aside- 

We  find  that  Age 

has  coveted  the  Prize. 


THE      CYCLE 


VII 

T  CANNOT  be  as  sanguine 
as  the  Sun, 

Who,  when  the  sands  of  Day 
have  fully  run, 

Sinks  with  a  blood-red  gleam 
of  Days  to  -be — 

I  live  this  Day- 
there  is  no  other  one. 


THE      CYCLES 


VIII 

T  TOW  oft  I  sneer 

to  view  the  brutal  strife 
Man  makes  for  Gain 

to  soothe  the  Future  Life, 
Pregnant  with  lust 

to  foul  his  fellow  dust 
In  marts  where  cunning, 

fraud,  and  sham  are  rife. 


THE       CYCLE 


IX 

TTOU  speak  to  me  of  Hell!— 

•*  There  is  no  Hell 

Save  in  that  brain  where  Hope 

has  ceased  to  dwell; 
Where  Reason  beats 

its  bleeding  wings  against 
The  strained,  revolting 

confines  of  its  Cell. 


THE      CYCLES 


X 

T  T  ELL  is  Man's  heritage, 

you  sadly  say, 
Because  he  blindly  falters 

on  the  way 
To  what  may  be!— 

Oh,  all-wise  as  you  are, 
Can  you  prove  this  to  me? — 

I  cry  you  nay! 


THE      CYCLES 


XI 

rr^HE  Days  to  come?— 

The  Monarch  on  his  throne, 
Aweary  of  uncertainty, 

has  grown 
To  look  ahead, 

anticipating  Fate, 
Forgetful  of  the  Joys 

he  might  have  known. 


THE      CYCLES 


XII 

f  1 1HE  hand  that  wields  the  Scepter 

often  shakes 
Before  the  aftermath  of  laws 

it  makes, 
For  Life  asks  usury 

for  what  it  gives— 
Giving  but  little 

for  the  toll  it  takes. 


THE      CYCLES 


XIII 

rTlHE  King— but  human- 
shorn  of  pomp  would  be. 

The  Queen  of  her  illusions 
would  be  free 

To  seek  the  boon  of  peace 

her  subjects  find, 

Unshackled  by  the 

chains  of  pageantry. 


THE      CYCLES 


B 


XIV 

UT,  no  —  the  King  and  Queen 

have  seen  the  Hand 
Upon  the  Wall, 

and  likened  its  command 
Unto  abandoned  Hope, 

yet  fain  must  live 
The  fettered  Life 

Futurity  has  planned. 


THE      CYCLES 


XV 

"PIRATE  of  this  Future, 

you  who  cannot  see 
Beyond  the  confines 

of  this  Mystery 
Called  Life,  relinquishing 

your  subtle  claim 
To  what  is  Now 

for  what  you  trust  will  bel 


THE      CYCLES 


XVI 

r  I^HE  savage  tribesman, 

on  his  barren  isle,     . 
Scoffs  at  the 

malady  of  Afterwhile; 
He  knows  he  lives  Today, 

and,  knowing  this, 
Comes  to  the  Later  Day 

with  artless  guile. 


THE      CYCLES 


XVII 

ri^HE  beasts  of  burden, 

toiling  year  by  year, 
That  Man  may  prosper 

and  allay  his  fear 
Of  later  drought, 

moil  on  without  complaint, 
Ambitionless,  resigned, 

as  Death  draws  near. 


THE      CYCLES 


XVIII 

r  I  XHE  birds  of  passage, 

with  their  hearts  atune 
With  dripping  song 

to  be  forgotten  soon, 
Fly  on  and  on  until, 

their  pinions  limp 
With  Age,  they  pass 

into  that  Endless  Swoon. 


THE      CYCLES 


XIX 

r  I  iHE  honey  bee 

that  feasts  upon  the  Rose 
Of  Paradise  that  by 

Life's  pathway  blows, 
Sips  of  its  fill 

until  the  night  draws  on. 
Then  passes  as  the 

wilting  petals  close. 


THE      CYCLES 


XX 

fawn  that  treks 

the  jungle,  innocent 
Of  Omnipresent  Doom, 

is  all-content 
To  live  its  span, 

predestined  though  it  is 
To  be  by  mightier  fauna 

torn  and  rent. 


THE      CYCLES 


XXI 

rflHE  tragedies  that  fill 

the  lives  of  those 
Born  to  the  vaunted 

purple  oft  disclose 
The  miseries  that  come 

from  knowing  that 
The  prick  of  thorns 

is  hidden  by  the  Rose. 


THE      CYCLES 


XXII 

¥~"XUMB  brutes,  who  answer 
to  your  beck  and  call, 

Straining  the  leash 

of  bondage  till  they  fall 

To  lifeless  Clay- 
how  sadder  they  than  you, 

Who  speak  of  Future  Hell 
in  fear  withal ! 


THE      CYCLES 


XXIII 

T  TI  THAT  care  they  for  the 

coming  of  the  years? 
Harassed  by  none  of 

Mankind's  greatest  fears, 
They  fill  their  niche  in  ignorance, 

then  pass 
Unmourned,  unloved  from  out 

this  Vale  of  Tears 


THE      CYCLES 


XXIV 

T  "K  7HILE  you,  who  feel  mine 

is  the  greater  loss 
Because  I  sift  pure  pleasure 

from  the  dross 
Of  Sweet  Existence, 

stagger  on  your  way 
Beneath  the  weight 

of  Future's  leaden  Cross. 


THE      CYCLES 


XXV 

TTOUR  mind-born  Creed— 

•*•  the  Toy  of  Fickle  Fate!- 

Shaped  in  the  effigy 

of  Hope,  to  sate 
A  brain  bewarped 

by  Faith  intangible — 
Why  should  it,  cast  with  mine, 

preponderate? 


THE       CYCLES 


XXVI 

T  7"OU  strive,  you  scheme, 

you  barter  to  achieve, 
That  you  may  be  adjudged 

by  what  you  leave 
When  Life  is  finished, 

fearing  that  disdain 
Of  those  who  reach  the  heights 

for  which  you  grieve. 


THE      CYCLES 


XXVII 

T  7"OU  pass  and,  for  the  nonce, 

Men  say  Success 
Has  wholly  crowned  your  efforts; 

but  the  stress 
Of  their  applause 

is  for  the  chattels  you 
Have  left — your  crumbling  Clay 

is  valueless. 


THE       CYCLES 


XXVIII 

^  EEK  not  to  lead  me 

to  that  Future  Day 
Of  which  you  prattle 

in  the  awkward  way 
Of  new-born  babes;  but, 

rather,  let  me  tread 
The  perfumed  highway  of  Today, 

I  pray. 


THE       CYCLES 


XXIX 

T)  RATE  not  of  Knowledge 

you  will  never  know 
Beyond  the  compass 

of  beliefs  that  flow 
As  variable  as  winds 

upon  the  wastes 
Of  desert  lands  and  seas — 

'tis  better  so. 


THE      CYCLES 


XXX 

fTlODAY— live  for  it!- 

Oh,  an  empty  thing 
This  Future  is  of  which 

you  blithely  sing! 
Fill  up  the  Cup  of  Gladness 

while  you  may, 
Enjoy  that  sweet  abandon 

it  will  bring! 


THE      CYCLES 


XXXI 

TF  I  might  know  that  some  day— 

when,  who  knows? — 
My  Life  would  bloom 

and  blossom  as  the  Rose, 
What  would  it  matter?— 

I  would  still  embrace 
The  Joys  the  Present 

and  Today  disclose. 


THE      CYCLES 


XXXII 

T  STILL  would  hold,  clutched  tightly 

to  my  breast, 
The  Pleasures  of  the  Nowt 

each  moment  dressed 
In  more  alluring  raiment — 

find  the  Prize 
That  you,  in  Future  Days, 

have  faintly  guessed. 


THE     CYCLES 


SECOND  CYCLE 


DOUBT  OF  MATURITY 


"What  you,  in  other  Days, 

were  wont  to  say, 
That  deeds,  well  done, 

reflect  the  Future  Day, 
I  now  can  grasp" 


THE      CYCLES 


I 


XXXIII 

F,  in  my  lethal  Creed, 

I  clutch  the  skirts 
Of  Momentary  Joy, 

who  gaily  flirts 
Before  mine  eyes  and  taunts  me 

to  my  Doom, 
What  matter  if 

the  outcome  sadly  hurts? 


THE      CYCLES 


XXXIV 

A    H,  call  me  what  you  will— 

base,  dissolute — 
Because  your  Liturgy 

I  dare  refute! 
The  vines  of  Present  Pleasures 

droop  beneath 
A  bounteous  yield— 

I  fain  would  pluck  the  fruit. 


THE      CYCLES 


XXXV 

Tl  yTY  Cup  of  Life 

I  rim-fill  with  Today, 
And  drive  Dull  Care 

upon  his  trackless  way; 
Call  in  the  Piper,  Joy, 

and  seek  surcease 
From  Future  thoughts — 

nor  reckon  on  the  pay. 


THE      CYCLES 


XXXVI 

T  1C  THEN  years  relentlessly 

roll  on  and  on, 
Youth's  fading  Cycle 

blends  into  the  dawn 
Of  ripened  Age,  and,  Lo— 

the  heart  brims  o'er 
With  memories  of  days 

forever  gone. 


|3  THECYCLES 

XXXVII 

rFIHE  Cynic,  freed  of 

arrogance,  forswears 
The  tangled  preachments 

that  Life's  fulness  bares; 
Casts  out  the  frail 

abandonment  of  Youth, 
WJiile  Doubt  enmeshes 

Reason  unawares. 


THE      CYCLES 


XXXVIII 

rTlHE  vision  broadens 

as  the  years  expand; 
Hope  checks  the  angered  blow 

aimed  by  the  hand 
Of  ravished  Fate, 

and  Faith  renews  the  song 
That  Younger  Years 

could  never  understand. 


THE      CYCLES 


XXXIX 

[AT  you,  in  other  Days, 

were  wont  to  say, 
That  deeds,  well  done, 

reflect  the  Future  Day, 
I  now  can  grasp — in  part — 

yet,  let  me  ask, 
Does  living  wholly 

for  the  Future  pay? 


THE      CYCLES 


XL 


,  for  me,  is  with 


ri^ 

Life's  pleasures  fraught, 
The  sweet  quintessence 

Of  contentment,  caught 
From  out  the  Past,  — 

Must  I,  then,  cast  aside 
Those  pleasures  and 

consider  them  as  naught? 


£3  THE       CYCLES 

XLI 

/~*\  AN  I,  once  having  run 

the  gamut  of 
All  earthly  Joys, 

embracing  Hate  and  Love, 
Turn  from  that  Past 

with  Conscience  all-serene, 
Discarding  it  as  fares  a 

tattered  glove? 


THE      CYCLES 


XLII 

TT  F  I,  repentant, 

now  should  bravely  seek 
That  fair  Futurity 

of  which  you  speak, 
Forget  the  tenets 

of  those  other  Days, 
Would  not  the  World 

at  once  proclaim  me  weak? 


THE      CYCLES 


XLIII 

/~^\  OULD  it  accept  me, 

I,  who  always  sought 
Destruction  of  those  temples 

Faith  had  wrought 
Within  your  breast — 

accept  me,  who  renounced 
The  broader  Creed  that 

greater  minds  have  taught? 


THE      CYCLES 


XLIV 

T  Snot  the  World 

suspicious  of  the  Man 
Who,  in  his  early  years, 

revised  the  plan 
Of  Looking  Forward, 

skeptical  of  all 
Who  preached  the  Gospel 

of  the  Coming  Clan? 


C 


THE      CYCLES 


XLV 

IOULD  it,  without  compunction, 

welcome  me 
Within  the  fold 

of  that  Futurity 
To  which  I  always  lent 

a  deafened  ear, 
Blind  to  the  things 

that  blinder  men  could  see? 


THE      CYCLES 


I 


XLVI 

DOUBT  it!— Man,  though  human, 

cannot  take 
The  barren  word 

of  one  who  would  forsake 
The  wayward  Creed  of  Youth 

and  hold  within 
His  Soul  the  Light 

his  betters  strive  to  make. 


THE       CYCLES 


XL  VII 

EPENTANCE  cloaks  the  cowardice, 


R 

1  claim, 


Of  one  who  has  been  seared 
within  the  Flame 

Of  Blind  Conceit;  and,  scorched, 
cries  out:  "Oh,  Youth, 

What  follies  are  committed 
in  thy  name!" 


THE      CYCLES 


XLVIII 

T  TOW  oft  I  seek 

communion  with  my  Fate. 
When,  menaced  by  Remorse, 

I,  trembling,  wait 
Beside  the  Road  of  Hope — 

but  all  in  vain, 
For  Fate,  all-unrelenting,  screams, 

"Too  late!" 


THE      CYCLES 


XLIX 

QJWEET  Faith,  cursed  by  the 

Wanderlust,  sways  on 
To  dizzy  heights,  turns, 

beckons— and  is  gone. 
I  struggle  after, 

buffeted  anon 
By  Doubt  and  by  Despair — 

their  helpless  pawn. 


THE      CYCLES 


T  SOMETIMES  think,  when 

Doubt  assails  my  brain, 
That,  after  all, 

Life  is  an  endless  chain 
Of  vague  regrets— the  fruits 

of  maddened  strife 
Man  makes  to  pilfer 

Honesty  of  Gain. 


THE      CYCLES 


F 


LI 

IAIN  would  I  be 

of  service  to  the  Creed 
You  oft  espoused, 

for  now  I  feel  the  need 
Of  such  support;  yet  Conscience 

prompts  the  thought: 
Too  long  I  failed 

contributing  my  meed. 


I 


THE       CYCLES 


LII 

S  it  within  the  scope 

of  Reason  I 
Can  flaunt  my  record 

Of  the  Days  gone  by 
Before  your  sect 

in  due  repentance,  and 
Expect  that  Screed 

in  one  brief  hour  to  die? 


THE      CYCLES 


LIII 

fTlHE  bird,  so  sweet  of  call, 

so  fleet  of  wing, 
That  greets  the  dawn  of 

each  new  morn  of  Spring, 
If  in  that  Spring 

its  wings  are  broken,  can 
It  fly  in  Summer 

or  as  sweetly  sing? 


THE      CYCLES 


LIV 

/^1  AN  I,  my  Spring  ill-spent 

as  Fancy  willed, 
My  soul  this  moment 

by  its  mem'ries  thrilled, 
Come,  in  the  Summertime  of  Life 

to  you 
And  own  my  Youthful  Mission 

unfulfilled? 


<fi  THECYCLES 

LV 

T  "K  THEN  I  unto  your  portals 

late  had  strayed, 
And  on  the  heartstrings  of  your  Trust 

had  played, 
Could  you  accept  me 

but  for  what  I  am, 
And  welcome  me 

with  Conscience  unafraid? 


THE      CYCLES 


LVI 

A    H,  could  I  feel, 

without  a  tinge  of  Doubt, 
I  might  embrace  that  Creed 

I  used  to  flout, 
And  know  that  Faith 

in  which  you  now  rejoice, 
Then  would  I  put  the  Past  Reproach 

to  rout! 


THE       CYCLES 


B 


LVII 

UT,  having  lived  that  Past 

for  Self  alone 
And  toppled  thoughts  of  others 

from  the  throne 
Of  Reason,  I  am  knouted 

by  Despair, 
Who  jeers:  "Why  this  late  Day 

seek  to  atone?" 


A1 


THE       CYCLES 


LVIII 

ND  why, "  Doubt  queries, 

1  undertake  to  throw 
Away  the  Fruits 

you  struggled  long  to  know 
And  now  possess, 

for  something  undefined? — 
Accept  the  gifts  of  Youth— 

'tis  better  so ! 


F 


THE       CYCLES 


LIX 

I  OR, "  Doubt  continues, 
"Future  is  a  dream 

Whose  dogma  is 

o'ershadowed  by  the  gleam 

Of  Present  Life- 
why  dawdle  for  a  Prize 

As  vague  as  blurred 

reflections  in  a  stream? 


THE      CYCLES 


LX 


GOT  Life  of  its  abundance- 


V 

take  your  fill 


Of  Earthly  Joys, 

let  Future  score  the  bill. 
Cram  the  voracious  maw 

Of  Now  with  spoils 
Of  Selfishness — 

for  Virtue's  pay  is  nil!" 


THE      CYCLES 


LXI 

,"  gently  urges  Reason; 


Nc 

X  1  "Life  is  fleet, 


And  one  must  mortar 

bitter  with  the  sweet. 
Once  having  sipped 

the  tang  of  Folly,  why 
Abandon  Hope, 

acknowledging  Defeat? 


THE      CYCLES 


LXII 

one  has  drunk 

his  fill  of  false  Desire, 
Infertile  Doubt  proclaims 

that  to  aspire 
To  nobler  things  were  vain — 

yet  Conscience  feeds 
Its  twigs  of  faith 

to  Hope's  eternal  fire! 


THE      CYCLES 


LXIII 

"  ~T)  LUCK  anchor  from 

the  Harbor  of  Despair 
And  for  Futurity's  Domain 

now  fare. 
What  matter  though  the  way 

be  tempest-tossed? — 
A  little  while,  and 

you  are  sheltered  there!" 


THE      CYCLES 


LXIV 

[AT? "argues  Doubt, 
'Renounce  the  Gains  of 

years, 
A  sacrifice  to 

palliate  the  jeers 
Of  Days  to  be — 

because  the  palinode 
Of  Pagans  has  found 

echo  in  your  fears? 


THE      CYCLES 


LXV 

thoughts  out-Herod  Life. 

Youth's  rainbow  swings 
Its  arched  magnificence 

for  what  it  brings 
The  Day  that  is!— When 

Death  draws  on  apace, 
What  care  you  for 

the  song  the  Future  sings?" 


THE      CYCLES 


LXVI 

A    H,  thus  assailed, 

I  turn  to  you  for  Light, 
That  you  may  guide 

my  vagrant  steps  aright ! 
Doubt,  Reason,  and  Despair 

their  preachments  bring, 
And  all  convincingly 

their  tenets  cite. 


«  THECYCLES 

"* 

LXVII 

1Y  yTATURER  years  have  taught  me 

many  things: 
The  heart  is  saddest  that 

most  blithely  sings; 
There  is  no  recompense 

for  wasted  Youth 
Save  greater  Wisdom 

patient  Future  brings. 


THE      CYCLES 


LXVIII 

X  7"ET,  having  reaped  the  harvest 

I  have  sown, 
Can  I,  all  self-existent, 

illy-grown, 
Illume  your  World 

and  share  the  manifold 
Endowments  I  should 

long  ago  have  known? 


THE     CYCLES 


THIRD  CYCLE 


WISDOM  OF  AGE 


"Sans  Creeds,  Beliefs — 

let  me  each  day  be  swayed 
By  one  desire — 

e'en  now  too  long  delayed: 
To  practise  Human  Kindness." 


THE      CYCLES 


LXIX 

T  li  THAT'S  done  is  done!— 

To  knock  upon  the  gate 
Of  your  Belief, 

I  fear  it  is  too  late; 
My  Courage  fails— 

I  ever  must  remain 
A  Parasite  for  Doubt 

to  castigate! 


THE      CYCLES 


LXX 

A  TY  Future!— dark, 

abysmal,  fathomless! 
My  Hope  of  nobler  deeds 

in  Doubt's  duress! 
My  path  entangled 

by  puissant  Fear, 
My  Soul  denied  the  boon 

of  Faith's  redress ! 


THE      CYCLES 


LXXI 

A    S  one  who  rouses 

from  imperfect  sleep, 
Or,  cured  of  blindness, 

sees  the  mighty  sweep 
Of  rising  sun,  so  Wisdom 

springs  from  years, 
Belated  faith 

with  dawning  Age  to  keep. 


gjj  THE      CYCLES 

LXXII 

T  T  OPE,  dashed  and  bruised  on 
Youthtime's  heedless  sea, 

Comes  limping 

to  the  call  of  Destiny. 

From  out  my  breast 

Despair  and  Doubt  depart, 

And  Faith,  so  long  held  captive, 
now  is  free. 


H  THECYCLES 

LXXIII 

"  /^  OME, "  whispers  Conscience; 
"Life  is  short,  forsooth, 
In  which  to  extirpate 

the  lapse  of  Youth; 
To  turn  from  those  entanglements 

and  seek 
The  cyclic  Wisdom 

later  born  of  Truth. 


THE      CYCLES 


LXXIV 

"  rTIHE  World  applauds  the  man 

who  finds  the  ways 
Of  rectitude— 

who  struggles  long  to  raise 
The  standards  of  Achievement, 

and  who  strives 
To  leave  behind 

his  sterile  Yesterdays. 


THE      CYCLES 


LXXV 

"  fTIHE  Springtime  Cycle, 

when  the  heart  beats  young, 
And  Future  speaks  to  us 

in  alien  tongue, 
Must  swing  in  its  predestined  orbit, 

while 
The  paeans  of  Good  Deeds 

are  left  unsung. 


THE      CYCLES 


LXXVI 

'  TT1OR  Man,  subservient 

to  Present's  sway, 
Precursor  of  a 

sometime  Better  Day, 
Is  but  a  potsherd 

of  the  Future  Life, 
United — later — 

with  the  Mother  Clay." 


c3 THE      CYCLES 

LXXVII 

/'""XNE  errs  in  early  Years 

when  Fancy  flings 
Her  peripatetic  dictum 

to  the  wings 
Of  Youth's  abandon; 

for  one  cannot  hear 
The  song  of  Faith 

the  Conscience  softly  sings. 


THE      CYCLES 


LXXVIII 

UT  when,  at  last, 

the  flush  of  Wisdom  sweeps 
Into  the  Soul,  and 

Life  its  mandates  keeps, 
Man  rouses  from  his  lethargy 

and  finds 
The  boon  of  deeds— 

for  Faith  no  longer  sleeps. 


THE      CYCLES 


C 


LXXIX 

I OME  now  into  that  Knowledge 

vast  and  wide 
Which,  by  Youth's  blurred  decree, 

I  was  denied, 
I  joyously  accept 

Life's  proffered  hand, 
My  visionary  Creeds 

all  cast  aside. 


THE      CYCLES 


LXXX 

fT^O  falter  by  the  way 

is  human— yet 
When  one  uproots  the  sprigs 

of  deep  Regret, 
Transplanting  Hope 

into  the  veins  of  Life, 
Faith's  gleaming  star 

can  never  sink  nor  set. 


THE      CYCLES 


LXXXI 

E  Kind!—  Oh,  phrase 

with  promise  opulent  ! 
Ornate  with  Love, 

Devotion,  Heart-Content! 
Youth-scorned,  you  limn  Life's 

Falltime  with  the  hues 
Of  Blessedness 

beyond  Earth's  firmament! 


THE      CYCLES 


LXXXII 

T)  E  True!— Oh,  words  that  drip 

with  sweet  repose, 
Perfume  Existence 

with  the  scent  of  rose! 
Ignored  in  Springtime, 

take  my  trembling  hand 
And  guide  the  way 

until  my  Life  shall  close! 


THE      CYCLES 


LXXXIII 

T)E  Charitable!— 

Oh,  a  thousand  ways 
I  picture  to  myself 

those  empty  days 
Self -centered, 

when  I  lifted  not  a  hand 
To  help  Mankind 

from  Trouble's  venal  maze! 


THE      CYCLES 


LXXXIV 

•  .lAITH,  let  me,  full-repentant 

walk  with  you 
In  Charity's  fair  garden 

drenched  with  dew, 
And  find  that  sweet  Soul-solace 

thriving  there 
Which,  in  those  fruitless  days, 

I  never  knew ! 


THE      CYCLES 


LXXXV 

T  TOPE,  steadfast,  merciful, 

within  my  breast 
No  longer  grow  the  weeds 

of  vague  unrest. 
With  you  and  Faith 

I  face  Futurity, 
My  life  indeed 

a  Heaven  doubly  blessed! 


THE      CYCLES 


LXXXVI 

Charity,  whose  name 

my  lips  ne'er  framed 
In  olden  days,' 

I  come  now,  unashamed, 
Accepting  of  your  bounty, 

asking  naught 
But  healing  of  the  Heart 

so  early  maimed! 


THE      CYCLES 


LXXXVII 

TT1AITH,  Hope,  and  Charity— 

though  late  the  Day, 
I  come  to  you 

deep  homage  now  to  pay; 
In  humble  supplication, 

bow  before 
Your  shrine,  to  find 

whatever  peace  I  may. 


THECYCLES 


LXXXVIII 

eyes,  unveiled, 

now  see  the  glory-dawn 
That  long  ago 

they  should  have  feasted  on. 
Mine  ears,  attuned 

to  hear  the  Future  song, 
Are  deafened  to  the  Ages 

past  and  gone. 


THE      CYCLES 


LXXXIX 

T  TENCEFORTH  my  every  deed 

I  consecrate 
To  you,  that  you  may 

judge  and  estimate 
The  depth  of  my  repentance, 

and  may  know 
No  longer  do  I  doubt 

the  ways  of  Fate. 


THE      CYCLES 


xc 

Creeds,  Beliefs— 

let  me  each  day  be  swayed 

By  one  desire- 
e'en  now  too  long  delayed: 

To  practice  Human  Kindness, 
and  to  bear 

My  Cross  adown  the  path 

Content  has  made. 


THE      CYCLES 


XCI 

A    ND  let  me  struggle 

upward  toward  the  Light 
Of  Peace,  in  all  its 

majesty  and  might, 
Through  deeds  that  serve  to 

gladden  saddened  hearts 
And  lead  them  through  Despair's 
deep  shadowed  Night. 


THE      CYCLES 


XCII 

rr^HE  Helping  Hand!— 

Oh,  fragments  that  remain 
Of  wasted  Life, 

you  must  allay  the  pain 
Of  those  who  follow 

in  your  early  steps, — 
Sift  chaff  of  Doubt  from 

Truth's  enduring  Grain! 


THE      CYCLES 


XCIII 

npHOUGH  Wisdom  blooms 

impassioned  with  the  wane 
Of  fleeting  Life, 

as  sunshine  follows  rain, 
One  deed  of  Kindness 

dissipates  the  clouds 
Of  Sorrow  that  from 

Younger  Days  remain. 


THE      CYCLES 


XCIV 

"T^V  BEDS  are  not  reckoned 

by  the  flight  of  Days, 
Nor  by  the  salvos 

nor  tumult  of  Praise, 
Nor  Human  Kindness 

by  its  magnitude— 
The  World  rewards  Mankind 

in  fitter  ways. 


THE      CYCLES 


xcv 

rriODAY— time-wise— 

I  fare  the  Lighted  Way 
From  out  the  forest 

of  my  Yesterday, 
Rejoicing  in 

the  blessed  Doctrine  of 
The  Helping  Hand 

in  Trouble's  fevered  fray. 


THE      CYCLES 


XCVI 

npHOUGH  Age  comes  on, 

'tis  not  too  late  to  start 
To  heed  the  promptings 

of  a  lightened  heart. 
The  Fellowship  of  Man 

is  made  complete 
When  each  plods  on 

and  fills  his  given  part. 


THE      CYCLES 


XCVII 

rTIHE  burdens  of  the  Weak 

are  for  the  Strong; 
The  sore  of  heart 

are  gladdened  by  a  song; 
The  Happy  Man  is  he 

who  scatters  seeds 
Of  lasting  goodness 

as  he  goes  along. 


THE      CYCLES 


XCVIII 

TTOUR  Creeds— what  are  they?— 

Shallow  things,  indeed, 
When  acts,  not  words, 

are  what  the  helpless  need. 
The  World  is  small 

and  has  no  place  for  those 
Who  swathe  their  errors 

in  the  skirts  of  Creed! 


THE      CYCLES 


O 


XCIX 

FAITH!  O  Hope!  O  Charity!- 

I  hold 
No  brief  against  the  Life 

that  now  is  old, 
Since  you,  all-bountiful, 

have  shared  with  me 
The  Wisdom  you  in  Youthtime 

left  untold! 


THE      CYCLES 


T)  EHIND,  a  barren  Past!— 

Before,  fair  days 
That  I  shall  pass 

in  Wisdom's  joyous  ways, 
With  here  and  there 

a  pause  to  lift  some  Soul 
From  out  the  gloom 

Despondency  may  raise. 


THE      CYCLES 


CI 

"Tt  yTY  Future  Days 

in  honest  purpose  spent 
In  Human  Kindness, 

broad,  beneficent, 
I  shall  have  lived 

to  see  the  sands  of  Life 
Run  out  their  course  in  Wisdom — 

all-content. 

TAMAM 


C/iJtr^^^^^^&lStJ 
StAVER-HoWLANDPRESS 

271  Franklin  St. 
'BOSTON 


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